Agencies brief PM on national security
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a meeting which was attended by top military brass and the heads of sensitive agencies, and discussed with them the matters pertaining to the national security.
According to sources, national security issues were considered in the meeting, while the heads of sensitive institutions briefed the prime minister on the security issues as well as the overall situation, including the border situation.
The meeting was attended by Army Chief Gen Asim Munir, Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen Nadeem Anjum and relevant senior officials. The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the performance of the military institutions.
Also, Prime Minister Shehbaz consulted cabinet ministers and senior leaders from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party on the court proceedings pertaining to the bill on the powers of the chief justice as well as the elections on Punjab.
According to Express News, Sharif chaired a meeting with party leaders, during which Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar briefed the participants on the relevant constitutional issues.
“A detailed consultation was held on the overall political situation of the country,” according to the report. “The court proceedings were also reviewed in detail in the meeting,” it added.
“The meeting agreed to continue using the forum of parliament effectively. The participants reiterated their commitment not to allow anyone to interfere in the affairs of parliament,” the report added.
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Meanwhile, Shehbaz chaired another meeting to review the measures to curb the smuggling of essential commodities, including wheat, sugar and urea. During the meeting, he formed a steering committee to curb the menace of smuggling.
While directing the authorities concerned to take stern action against the smugglers, he noted that the smuggling of wheat, sugar and urea, adversely impacted the remittances into the country and usurped the right of the people.
Mentioning a bumper wheat crop this year, Shehbaz stressed that the people of Pakistan had all the right over this produce. He added that the government was carrying out planning to achieve even more wheat production by next year.
“The government will make all-out efforts to make Pakistan a wheat exporter. The government has also started implementing a comprehensive plan to ensure uninterrupted supply of urea to the farmers for the next crop,” he added.
He also called for increasing the number of anti-smuggling courts and enhancing their capacity. He directed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to personally visit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to meet provincial authorities.
Besides the interior minister, the meeting was also attended by federal ministers Syed Murtaza Mahmood, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Adviser to Prime Minister Ahad Cheema, heads of the intelligences agencies and others.
Also, a delegation, led by Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Anwarul Haq met the prime minister. During the meeting, Shehbaz assured Haq of resolving the AJK’s problems regarding the development funds as soon as possible.
“Pakistan stands with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in their struggle for freedom and the government of Pakistan will continue to provide moral, political and diplomatic support for their right to self-determination.”
Shehbaz said that India’s move of stripping Kashmir of its special status on August 5, 2019 was an illegal action and a violation of human rights. He urged the international community, including the United Nations, to take notice of it.
The delegation comprised AJK ministers Waqar Noor, Faisal Rathore, AJK lawmaker Latif Akbar, PML-N AJK President Shah Ghulam Qadir, AJK Peoples Party President Chaudhry Yasin and former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira were also present during the meeting.